Unbreakable
Jackson flops on the sofa with his ereader, settling in for a bit of relaxation before starting dinner prep. He pricks his ears as a key turns in the lock. ""Company's here!"" calls Nanny from the foyer. "Awe/'some'!" he hollers. "I'm in the family room!" Shoes hit the mat. Logan creeps in with Nanny at his heels, concern all over her face. "Hey," greets Jackson. Logan nods, rubs his neck. "You gotta minute?" Jackson raises an eyebrow, sits up. "Yea, sure. Andrea and Jason have the beans occupied out back." Logan grunts, makes for the office. Jackson pushes to his feet, asks Nanny, "'s bad?" "He wouldn't tell me, but I don't think I've ever seen him so on edge." Jackson nods, swallows. ""You coming?"" They head inside; Nanny claims the chair, Jackson leans on the desk. Logan closes the door, slides down its back, sits with his knees tucked against his chest. Nanny shifts, flashes Jackson a Look. Jackson's stomach twists; he tightens his grip on the edge of the desk. Logan takes a deep breath. "You remember Blossom?" Nanny nods. "Uh, your plus-one from the wedding party? Pink hair?" "Yea. Her." Another breath. "She's visiting. End of the month-ish. And—" Very deep breath. She's ... bringing her two-year-old." "It'll be lovely to see her again," says Nanny cautiously. "Yea," agrees Jackson. "She was pretty cool." Snorts. "Really thought you met your match—" Logan flinches. Jackson shuts his mouth with a click. Nanny takes a deep breath{, centers herself}, asks gently, "What happened, love?" Eyes on the floor, Logan says quietly, "We know DriftSci messed with Jupiter and the littlest fluffheads, ay?" Jackson sets his teeth, nods. Deep breath. "They 'made' Button—the tyke. He's part Blossom—" Swallows. "—part me." "I think my hearing's going." Jackson shakes his head. "I could /'swear' you just said you have a son." "That's exactly what he said, Jack," says Nanny. "This is what going mad must feel like." Nanny kicks— Jackson winces. "Sorry." "What does 'made' mean, love?" Logan scrubs a hand over his face. "We didn't—" Swallows. "They used cells or something—" Shudders. "I didn't know 'til—" his knees closer. "Dear god," breathes Nanny. Jackson blinks. "If she did that, why—" Logan's head snaps up, eyes full of fire. "/'She' didn't do /'anything'." "Okay—" "They kidnapped her, mucked with her, and when she got away she was pregnant." Bows his head. "She didn't know, either." "Oh my god, you poor dears," murmurs Nanny from behind her hand. Jackson forces his stomach back down, sorts his legs, eases himself to the floor next to Logan. "'m so sor—" "Save it," he snaps. Jackson cringes. "But why'd they ...?" Logan grins nastily. "'cause me and her pissed 'em off." collapses. "They figured they could use the same leash for us both." "They wanted—" Jackson's stomach turns. "They forced you to be me." Logan nods miserably, mumbles, "'cept Blossom got away before they could really do anything to Button. He's a typical kid, so far." Swallows. "Not like Jupiter. Never been tested like Book and B—" Barely audible, "'m sorry, Jack." "'s'not your fault." Logan scoffs. "I mean—" "This is /'completely' my fault, Jack—" "But—" Nanny clears her throat. Jackson stills. "How long will Blossom and Button be staying, Logan?" He takes a shaky breath. "Only {for }a few days, then they'll go back where it's safe." Looks up at Nanny through his lashes. "Can they crash in your spare room?" "Of course. welcome as long as they can stay." "Thanks." Some tension bleeds from Logan's posture. "Anything we need to do to, umm, 'help' while they're here?" Logan sighs. "Well, you've never met her before and her name isn't 'Blossom'—I'll introduce you when she gets here—and Button's not—" Ducks his head. "—related to ... us." "That's all?" A glint in his eye. "We're taking care of everything else with help from a few friends." "Gotcha," smiles Jackson. "Anything else?" "Get outta here and leave me alone for a couple of minutes." "You'll have to move so we can open the door," Jackson points out. Logan scowls, scoots out of the arc of the door without getting up. Nanny and Jackson get up, pad out and down the hallway to the kitchen. Jackson folds into a chair, murmurs, "I don't know what to think." Shakes his head. "I thought he was unbreakable. I really did. [Everything we went though, the last few years, just—" Makes a swooshing motion. "—off him. I was a wreck and he— He held us together and—" Shudders. "—they broke him." Nanny, perched on her own chair, covers his hand with hers. "Jack, love, Logan's always been breakable." Smiles kindly. "This is just the first time he can't hide it from you." Jackson swallows, takes a breath. "A kid. They made a /'kid' to manipulate him and Blossom. A fucking innocent /'child'." Scrubs a hand down his face. "I mean, I know they messed with Charlie to make sure— and then they— but we always /'wanted' a third bean and we so /'happy' to meet Jupiter. But Logan ... oh, shit. Those mother/'fuckers' knew /'exactly'—" Stares off, eyes wide and shiny. "Jack?" "They /'watched' him with Baby." Slowly, "They /'knew' how deep a kid could get under his skin. So ...." Wipes at an eye. "So, they force him to have one of his own—with his old best friend, just to make it worse and who the fuck knows how they rubbed /'that' in—and they've got him by the throat." Blinks rapidly. "And he never gets his family back, not if he wants to keep them safe.] Not like I did." Nanny squares her shoulders. "You're being absolutist, dear. We'll figure—" Someone clears their throat. leans on the doorframe. Jackson rubs his neck. "How much of that did you hear?" "Enough." Weak smile. "You didn't say anything new." Pushes off. "Charlie bake anything lately?" "Uh, there're some cookies in the pantry." "Awe/'some'." Logan digs about, selects a pair, stuffs one in his mouth, ambles for the front door, waves negligently with the other cookie. Shoes scuff, the front door opens, closes. "Well," ventures Jackson, "he's still Logan." "Of course he is, dear." Category:Ficlet Category:The Village Category:Jackson Category:Jackson (ficlet) Category:Nanny Category:Nanny (ficlet) Category:Logan Category:Logan (ficlet) Category:Andrea (mention) Category:Jason (mention) Category:Blossom (mention) Category:Button (mention) Category:Book (mention) Category:Baby (mention) Category:Jupiter (mention) Category:DriftSci (mention) Category:DriftSci interest in Ranger babies Category:Firefly (reference) Category:DCaMP (mention)